Cartridge positioning machine



Sept. 26, 1944. A, JACKSON CARTRIDGE POSITIONING MACHINES Filed April 2, 1942 4 sheets-sheet 1 /N VENToR EDWA RD Av JfiC/(SON Sept. 26,

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Sept. 26, 19 E. A. JACKSON 2,353,930

CARTRIDGE POS ITLONING MACHINES Filed April; 2, 1942 4-Sheet sSheet 5 //YVEN T0 12 f D WA RDVVA JACKSON 7 XMMM Sept. 26, 1944. J ON 2,358,930

CARTRIDGE POSITIONING MACHINES Filed April -2, 1942 4 Sheets- Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 26, 1944 UNITED sates In Great 12 Claims.

This invention consists in improvements in or relating to cartridge positioning machines particularly designed to effect an accurate positioning of cartridges in a belt of the metal link or jointed type as is requisite in ammunition belts Britain November 14, 1941 (else-4s) l for machine guns, or any gun in which successive rounds are fed to the machine by means of a travellingbelt. It is unnecessary to stress the need for accurate positioning of the cartridges in the belt so that all of the cartridges are unifor'mly held therein as it is well known that, particularly in guns from which a rapid fire is to take place, the passage of a belt in which the cartridges are not uniformly positioned relatively to the edges of the belt often leads to jamming and demobilisati'on of the gun.

The present invention is applied to a positioning machine of the kind comprising in combination a revolving tappet block or carrier containing a plurality of axially movable tappets which are rotated by the block in synchronism with cartridges that have been inserted in a belt and are fed in front of the tappets across the axis of rotation of the tappet block, a tappet cam for actuating the tappets so that each cartridge as it travels through'the machine will be engaged with and adjusted in its position in the belt by movement of a tappet, and a belt feeding and locating device which traverses the belt of cartridges and locates the belt itself relatively to the tappet cam.

Hereinafter and in the appended claims a machine having this combination of parts will be referred to as a cartridge belt positioning of the type specified.

One such machine has been described in prior British specification No. 533,424 and an object of the present invention is to provide improvements in a machine of this nature.

'1 According to the present invention a cartridge positioning machine comprises in combination a revoluble tappet block, cartridge-belt traversing and locating means to traverse the belt relatively to the tappet block in a direction transverse to the axis thereof, a .plurality of cartridge positioning tappets carried by the tappet block and spaced apart angularly around the axis thereof, each of which tappets is formed with an internal cavity, a spring in each tappet cavity compressible between an end thereof and an abutment on the tappet block and serving to urge the tappet resiliently in the direction of the belt as it is traversed past the tappet block, spring-engaging abutments in the tappet block and a drivecoupling between the latter means and the tappet block whereby the 'tappets' are brou ht successively into operative position synchronously with the traverse of thefbel'tin order sdccessivelyto engage and position cartridges located in the belt.

Preferably, the abutments carried by the tappet block comprises ins extending into the interior of the tappet, and each ta pet is provided with an axial slot into or through which the pin passes and which permits axial'movem'ent oi the tappet relatively to the pin and preferably serves as the means to prevent rotation of the tappet about its axis.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood one preierre'd construction will now be described with the aid oithe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of the main portions of a cartrid e belt filling machine according to one form of the invention; 1

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2- 2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Figure 1, looking in'th'e direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 5-4 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 shows on an enlarged scale a portion of the mechanism shown in Figure 1 with some of the cartridges and a portion of the cartridge belt shown in position; and

Figure 6 is a section also similar to Figure 2 of a still further modification of the invention.

Like reference numerals indicate like arts in the several figures of the drawings.

In the construction shown in Figures 1 to 5,

' the cartridge belt and cartridges have been omitted, for the sake of clear'ness, from Figures 1 to 4. On a base l0 two end standards I! and [2 are providedfor supporting two ortions I3 and I 4 of a divided main driving shaft. Mounted on the portionl3 and keyed to that shaft by splines 15 is a tappet block 16 providing bearings for axially movable tappets l1 spaced equidis tantly around the axis of the tappet block. A profile cam or swash plate 18 is received in the standard H so as to be non rotatabl'e but axially movable therein and, for this purpose, is *siidabl'e on two dowel ins H8 which are fixed in standard ll. The cam is adjustable as to its axial position by means of a screwed sleeve is which is retained in its position'of adjustment by means of a lock-nut 211. The cam It has a sleeve-like extension 2| affording a bearing for the lefthand end of shaft 13 and isit'self screw'th'rea'ded at its outer end to receive a locking ring 22 which is clamped in position by a setscrew 23 to ensure that the cam I8 is adjustable by the screwed sleeve H! and will not be displaced axially from that position of adjustment. The shaft |3 has a flange 24 between which and anopposed face of a recess in cam H3 is a ball thrust bearing 25 and the flange 24 is held up against this hearing by means of a collar 26 secured by grub-screw 21. Between the collar 26 and a clamping nut 28 a crank handle 29 is secured to the shaft.

The other shaft portion M has abearing at one end in standard .|2 and intheiother end it is in splincd engagement at 30 with the tappet block l6 so that shaft through the medium of the tappet blockbut, the latter is capable of adjustment axially relatively to shaft I 4. On the latter is mounted to rotate with it a cartridge spacing Wheel 3| and the toothed abutment member 32 which engages and positions the edge of the cartridge belt and all the parts so far described are similar in their lnainessentials to the corresponding parts described in prior British specification No.533,424. "In the present construction, however, each of thetappets I1 is formed with an axial recess in which" is 7 received a compression spring 33, one end .of whichengages'the end of the recessjin' the'tappet and the other end of which abuts against'a pin 34. which is screwthreaded radially into the tappet block I6 and passes completely through an axial slot formed in thetappe't itself." Thus while the'tappet can slide axially on pin 34 the latter prevents rotation of the tappet about its own axis. The operative head of the tappet may be cylindrical as shown in Figure 6 but inorder to reduce or enlarge the effectivepitch circle of the tappets to accommo date either smaller or larger ammunition respec-' tively without unduly reducing or unduly enlarging the tappet size, the tappet head may be either inturned or out-turned respectively. p In the present example, it 'isshown as inturned so that the part ofthe tappet head which will engage the cartridge 1ies within. th'e radius of'a circle on whichf'thfe longitudinal axis of the 'tappets' will lie. [The operative portion of the tappet head is sh' ownat 36 audit will'be observed that the longitudinal'axis' of thetappet is radially beyond this effective head portion. a

In'order to insert the springs 33 in position the tappet is bored longitudinally from the outer face of thetappet'head to the base of the recess so that the springs can be inserted and pins 34 then passed through slots 35 to be. screwed in position to retain springs '33 in place.

According to"an'o ther' feature of the invention the feed and outlet boards3'l and 38 respectively are hinged at 39 and 40 respectively to the base l0 so that they, can'be adjusted to any. suitable angle of inclination with respect to the horizontal 7 guide platforms 4| from which the belt and cartridges pass to the spacing wheel 3| and sprocket 42 which is associated with the spacing wheel in the feeding of the' belt through the machine and to the exit platform 43 from those'feeding devices. Above platforms 4| and 43 there is now provided a cover comprising two fixed'parts 44 and 45 bridged by a hinged cover 46. At one end 'thejcover'can turn about a fixed pin 41 and canbe secured in'place by a removable pin 48, both pins passing, as shown in Figure 1, through ears constituting extensions from the fixed covers 44i 'and45 and through the requisite holes in the ends of cover 46 which is located between the ears."

Q [As in the. case 'of the construction described I4 is driven from shaft l3 v 7 specification aforementioned,

in the prior British the belt is guided by a fixed guide. plate 49 as it travels from left toright in Figure 3 into and 7 movement of which is controlled by means of the Rotation of the tappet block and the cartridge belt feeding devices is effected by rotation of crank handle 29 and the distance to which the cartridges are pushed into the belt is determinedby the adjustment of the position of the tappet cam |8 relatively to the toothed abutment 32. It is the latter which holds the edge of the cartridge belt during the adjustment of the cartridges therein. This is shown clearly in' Figure 5., In the form illustr'atedin Figure 6 the tappets are in this caseagain internally sprung but instead of being formedwith ofiset heads 36 they are now formed with plain cylindrical heads I36;

Inthis construction, however, which'is designed to deal with relatively heavyammunition, the driving shaft isrotated by handle 29 through reduction gearing contained in a gear box designated generally by the reference 53. Thereduction gearing comprises gear 54 to which the crank handle 29 is secured, an intermeshing gear 55 mounted to rotateon'a stub axle 56 the gear box, a smaller gear 51 integral with gear 55 and'finally a gear '58 which intermeshes with gear 51 and isjsplined onto the end of shaft l3. and secured thereto between a collar'59 on sheath l3 and a clamping .castellated nut 69' held in its clamping position by a split pin 6|. Hinged feed and outlet boards and a hinged cover over the feed wheels is provided as before but in thiscase it will not be convenient to adjust thefaxial position of the tappet cam relatively to the feeding devices and therefore it is the latter that are adjusted simultaneously by means of a screw- 7 threaded 'sleeve'62 received in standard It and locked in. positions of adjustment by means of lock nuts 63 and 64. A'thrust ball bearing 65 is located between the end of sleeve 62 and a part 66 forming an extension of and beyond the toothed abutment 32. f

I claim: l. A cartridge positioning machine comprising in combination a revoluble tappet block, care tridge-belt traversing and locating means to traverse' the belt relatively to thetappetblock in a direction transverseto' the axis thereof, a

" plurality of cartridge positioning tappets carried by the tappet block and spaced apart angularlyaround the'axis thereof, .each of which tappets is formed with an internal cavity, a spring in each tappet"cavityfcompressible between an end thereof and an abutment. on the tappet block 7 and serving to urge the tappet resiliently in the direction of the belt as it is traversed past the; tappet block; spring-engaging abutments in the tappet block and, adrive-coupling between, the

tappets are brought successively into operative position synchronously with the traverse of the belt in order successively to engage and position cartridges located in the belt.

carried in v 2. In a cartridge-belt-filling machine the combination according to claim 1 together with means to prevent rotation of the tappet about its axis.

3. In a cartridge-belt-filling machine the combination according to claim 1 in which the abutment carried by the tappet block to engage one end of a tappet spring comprises a pin extending into the interior of the tappet and in which the tappet is provided with an axial slot within which the pin is engaged and which permits axial movement of the tappet relatively to the pin.

4. In a cartridge-belt-filling machine the combination acording to claim 1 in which each tappet is provided with diametrically opposed axial slots in opposite walls of the cavitied portion of the tappet and in which the abutment carried by the tappet block to engage one end of the spring comprises a pin which extends through both slots in the tappet walls.

5. In a cartridge-belt-filling machine the combination according to claim 1 wherein that end of the tappet that is to engage a cartridge is ofiset from the axis of the tappet.

6. In a cartridge-belt-filling machine the combination according to claim 1 having feeding and outlet boards for guiding the belt into and out from the machine, the lengths of which boards extend transversely to the axis of the tappet block and one at least of which is hinged for the purpose of adjusting its inclination.

'7. In a cartridge-belt-filling machine the combination according to claim 1 having feeding and outlet boards for guiding the belt into and out from the machine, the lengths of which boards extend transversely to the axis of the tappet block and each of which boards is hinged for the purpose of adjusting its inclination.

8. The combination according to claim 1 together with an upper cover provided above the belt-feeding and locating means.

9. The combination according to claim 1 which together with an upper cover is provided above the belt feeding and locating means and extends on both sides thereof.

10. The combination according to claim 1 together with an upper cover provided above the belt-feeding. and locating means, said cover having a central portion which is movable to give access to the belt-feeding and locating means.

11. The combination according to claim 1 and in addition a main driving shaft for rotating the tappet block and belt-feeding means, and actuating handle for turning the shaft, and reduction gearing constituting the driving connection between the handle and the shaft.

12. The combination according to claim 1 and in addition a main driving shaft for rotating the tappet block and belt-feeding means, an actuating handle for turning the shaft, reduction gearing constituting the driving connection between the handle and the shaft, and means also to adjust the axial position of the belt-feeding and locating means towards and away from the tappet cam.

EDWARD ALMOND JACKSON. 

